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"Don't hate me because I'm less adoptable, adopt me because I need you."

That's the theme of this year's "Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week".

The Central Missouri Humane Society is joining in the celebration that was started in 2009 by petfinder.com. They started the event after recognizing that 95% of shelters and rescue groups have a difficult time finding owners for pets that suffer from discrimination.

Reasons for that discrimination include prejudice, ageism, color and special needs.

"Every day, families walk into shelters or visit Petfinder.com and, perhaps unconsciously, bypass some adoptable pets simply because of the way they look, their age, or because they have a condition such as blindness or deafness," said Betsy Banks Saul, the co-founder of Petfinder.com.

The CMHS is having adoption specials September 19th - 24th from 12 - 5 p.m. to encourage possible owners to adopt pets they might not have thought of previously.

Central Missouri Humane Society Celebrates Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week

Petfinder.com will also be featuring a gallery of "less adoptable" pets on its Web site during the week long event to highlight just how many pets need to be given a chance.

Central Missouri Humane Society posts its adoptable pets on Petfinder at: www.petfinder.com/shelters